Hand Stitching

This was another week of hand stitching projects.  I finished off the outlining of the dark purple lupin and moved on to the lupin to the left.  It was partly done before and I am almost finished it.  There is more outlining to do on the leaves at the bottom of the picture. 

Finn laid beside me today while I knitted and listened to an audiobook. 

I attempted to sew another block together on my drunkard's path project but my sewing machine was not co-operating.  Usually, a good cleaning will fix the issues but not this time.  I think it will have to be taken in to the repair shop this week.  I sew at the dining room table when Finn is here as he is not allowed in my sewing room.  I pulled out an antique machine-- it took some time to get the tension set and then Finn woke up from his nap and wanted to play--that meant the end of my sewing time.  My husband was out today so he could not keep Finn occupied while I sewed.  Here are the pieces for the rest of the blocks.  The colours remind me of macarons.

Finn gave us a puzzle for Christmas and we finished putting it together this week.  It was harder than it looks!

I worked on my Arizona quilt this week too.  There are four of each block in this quilt and I quilted three square in a square blocks and three flying geese blocks this week. One more of each of these two blocks to do before I move on to the corner blocks.  I'm figuring out how to quilt each block as I go along. 

Finn is a big help while I hand quilt...

We had to run out to do an errand this week -- Finn was not thrilled with the ice pellets on his face. 

Sometimes, he takes a toy outside when he goes out to pee.  It was the chicken's turn yesterday. 

I will link up with Kathy and Frederique, as usual. 

A Week at the Cottage

Our family, including our daughter and Finn, spent this past week at a cottage near Algonquin Park. We had a relaxing week which included lots of reading on the dock, crafting, watching the olympics, a puzzle and going for walks. On the way to pick up Finn and our daughter, I spent several hours untangling a skein of wool that I bought last year in Newfoundland for the scarf I have been knitting.  I'm not sure how it got so tangled up, but it is now a ball of wool, ready to add to the scarf. 

I added lots of rows of knitting to the scarf in the car and at the cottage.  It's growing and I may be able to finish it in time to wear this winter!

I added more stitches to my winter cross stitch too.  You can see the tree starting to emerge now. This pattern is from Satsuma Street. 

My daughter worked on her "Bernard the Elf" wobble and finished him!  He liked watching the races at the Olympics too.  His hat is quite jaunty!

We had my friend Cathy and her husband over for lunch one day.  They lived close to us until a few years ago when they moved to Muskoka.  Cathy blogs at Eagles Wings Quilts--Kathy's Slow Sunday Stitching Crew will know who she is as she links up each Sunday with all of the hand stitchers. We had not seen each other in three years so it was fun to catch up in person.  Cathy and I often sew together on FaceTime.  Here we are with our current stitching projects.  

Finn's favourite place at the cottage was the dock. He just loved lying in the sun and watching the canoes and kayaks go by. 

A comfy chair on the screened in porch was a great place for an afternoon nap. 

A monarch butterfly found a milkweed plant at the side of the road and stayed still long enough for me to get a picture when we went for a walk one day. 

My daughter and I took Finn for a canoe ride one evening when the water was very calm. 

Later in the evenings, we all worked on this puzzle. All those swaths of solid colour were a bit challenging.  We left it at the cottage for others to enjoy. 

I will link up with Kathy and Frederique. 
 

An Excellent Week

I have had an excellent week, filled with fun activities and lots of stitching time so there is lots to blog about today. As you know, I like to cross stitch in the car.  This week, I finished off the light purple lupin on the right side of my cross stitch project and now I am working on the lighter green coloured leaves at the bottom.  There are also a few more pink stitches to add, but I will soon be doing the outlining stitches. 

A friend has a new granddaughter and, of course, I made baby E a quilt.  Her parents sent me this picture along with their thank you note. Such chubby cheeks!  So cute.

Earlier this week, I noticed a Facebook post by Nancy at the Secret Life of Squirrels.  Nancy is a retired teacher turned squirrel photographer and children's book author.  Several years ago, I offered to send a mini quilt I had made to her for one of her squirrel photos.  She used the little quilt in a scene with a sewing machine that she made out of modelling clay and then returned the quilt to me.  The next year, that photo was included in the calendar that she made.  This week, her FB post was about a new puzzle by Cobblehill Puzzles that features nine of her photographs, including the one with my little quilt in it! How exciting!  I went into my quilt storage area and pulled out the little quilt to show my husband.  I ordered a puzzle at a local store and will take my quilt in to show them when I pick it up. 

I made this little quilt at a miniature quilt making class over 10 years ago with Kathy W. who hosts the weekly Slow Sunday Stitching link up on her blog.  It was made with scraps from another quilter at the workshop. Each HST is 3/4" --the quilt is 6.5" square. 

Our shamrock bloomed this week.  This plant once belonged to my husband's Great Aunt.  When she died in 1977,  his parents took the plant home and it bloomed happily on their back deck for many years.  His mom gave it to us a few years ago and we shared a piece of it with my SIL.  It makes me happy to see this plant come back to life every spring after spending the winter dormant in our basement. The flowers are very tiny--my picture is taken very close up so it looks much bigger than it is. 

Finn has been a hot dog this week!  He still likes going outside though. The heat wave has broken where he lives and he is looking forward to finally being able to go for a walk today. 

I worked on my hand quilting project for a few hours this week and it is coming along. Lots more to do but I am enjoying every stitch!  The pattern is called Put a Ring on it by Latifah Saffir

A friend retired recently and hosted friends and family for a celebratory dinner this past Thursday.  I made her a Sew Together bag.  She told me she is hoping to have more time to sew now. The outside fabric is the same as the one I made for Christine for her birthday but the lining and pocket fabrics are different.

I bought the cute little measuring tape tag at QuiltCon at the Sarah Hearts booth a few years ago.  I wish I had added one to my bag too but forgot that I had them until this week.  The wool piece is a needle landing. 

The garden is exploding with colourful flowers this week. All that rain and hot weather has helped! This first flowers is called Veronica.

Shasta Daisies

Coreopsis

One last bit of good news--I heard that Quilts for Survivors far exceeded their goal of 1000 blocks donated at Quilt Canada!  I was very happy to participate in this very worthwhile and meaningful project.  I will link up with Kathy and Frederique as usual.  Thanks for stopping by.  I love to read your comments. 

Secret Sewing

 Almost all of my sewing time this week was spent making a wall hanging for a swap which will take place next week.  I have spent months ruminating over a design and colours and fabrics.  I am really pleased with the end result and am in the process of adding the hand stitches to the binding and hanging sleeve.  I will show my finished quilt and the quilt that I receive from my swap partner in my next blog post. 

I did a bit of cross stitching this week, adding lots of the variegated purple borders as well as starting the bird motif.  It doesn't look like much yet, but these are the tail feathers.  If you squint, you might see it!!! LOL. 

Finn says he has a nice tail, but no feathers!  This is what happens when his kong goes under the couch. 

This project is nearing completion.  When it is done, I will go back and finish my sunflower picture.  I have taken my spring rabbit cross stitch in to be framed and have been told it will be ready before Easter. 

Finn likes to lie on his quilt and blanket under my daughter's desk while she works from home.  She requires his constant close supervision. 

My husband and I started a new puzzle this week--this was a Christmas gift from Finn and my daughter. I think I would like to visit this shop in person. 

I'm off to work on my binding.  Happy slow stitching Sunday, everyone!  I will link up with Kathy in the morning. 

36 Patch Quilt Done!

Over the past 10 months, I have been making 36 patch blocks in the colour of the month for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  This past week, I quilted, bound and labelled my quilt--that's two quilts finished in two weeks!  I'm on a roll!  I used my walking foot to sew straight lines diagonally through all of the white squares with 28wt thread.  The backing is a wide back called Sea Glass.  It has lots of colours in it to match all of the squares on the front.  There are no repeats of any of the coloured squares on the front.  Would you believe that my box of 2.5" squares still is not empty???  The binding is a Kona solid.  

The quilt is square...it was a bit breezy when I took this picture!

I finished up my scrappy Drunkard's Path block this week as well as my green selvage HST's.  I will need to take a look at these projects soon and figure out if I need to make more blocks in a few other colours. 

I have been watching the Modern Quilt Guild Sessions online this weekend and did some knitting during one of the lectures I watched yesterday.  I just have to add the top border of this cloth and it will be done. I hope there is enough yarn to finish it!  Fingers crossed!

The Gees Bend Puzzle is coming together slowly.  We have not had much time to work on it in the last week or so. 

Would you believe that we had some snow one morning this past week??? Yikes!  

Finn is a great car traveller and does not mind the long drive to and from their home to ours.  

The fall colours are at their finest right now in our neck of the woods. 

One of our favourite places to go on Saturday mornings is our local farmer's market.  This morning, one of the vendors was selling hot pretzels.  Yum!  

I will link up with the Rainbow Scrap challenge folks today and the Slow Sunday Stitching group tomorrow.  Thanks for visiting!